wing chun's chi gerk techniques

[kung fu fighter]

Hi,
I want to start a discussion about chi gerk.
For example what are the 8 defensive leg positions (techniques)? bong, tan, jut, huen, fuk, etc. as well as what are the 8 kicking variations in the system? How is footwork used in conjunction with the chi gerk?

[Airdrawndagger]

Hi,
I want to start a discussion about chi gerk.
For example what are the 8 defensive leg positions (techniques)? bong, tan, jut, huen, fuk, etc. as well as what are the 8 kicking variations in the system? How is footwork used in conjunction with the chi gerk?

Like the upper-body moves, its all based on timiing. When you first learn chi-gerk, you time the front leg to move up until the knee is raised until the thigh is at least horizontal and then you lower your leg down until your entire foot touches the ground-then repeat. You usually have a training partner who will be in stance with you, facing you about arms distance and you square your shoulders with his and his foot and lower leg is sticking to yours.
As you raise your leg up, your partner sticks to yours and raises his as well to the above mentioned height. Each raise reps. a kick. It is important that your partner sticks to you because if not then the kick will get thru, thus reping. a strike. This is the basic motion.
From here you can do these movements and add things like running the leg for a better position, stepping, retreating and sticking, actual kicks, etc...
Ive found that in WC training/learning, the more you think of the drill and visuallize what it REPRESENTS then the more you will come to find its true meaning. Chi-gerk is the same. At a glance it looks pretty basic, but it definetly reps. a whole lot more than what meets the eye!
Are you practicing chi gerk now?

ADD

[kung fu fighter]

Are you from the moy yat linage?

[Mr Punch]

Just lost a post so I'll keep this brief.

We don't actually use Chinese terms in chi gerk except bong gerk and tan gerk. Every leg move will go through one of these positions. I use roundhouses too, and although I wasn't shown them in wing chun, I was shown the footwork which enables effective ones. Roundhouses don't go through bong or tan gerk, and we don't really use them in chi egrk so I'll leave them out.

We don't really emphasize defensive positions. A defensive position shouldn't be held as such, it should always be transient to provoke a response or to clear a way to an opening. And also, as such, footwork in chi gerk shouldn't be a concern at the start.

Airdrawndagger has given you a good description of the basic practise. From there (and SLT on one leg) we went to chi gerk with your hands on your partner's shoulders. We did this for stability for those who didn't have such good balance, and to uphold the adage of kicking using three legs not one, which makes a lot of sense for close-range fighting. We were told though, that traditionally for those who had a lot of time to spend learning, you should first practice from a point of no contact with the arms to improve balance, and then work through the ranges.

But the way we do it was starting in the range described above, then from a double fut sao behind the partner's neck, for the wing chun 'clinch'. At first we practice with one of you with the inside, and as you get more proficient, you should of course be working this clinch by rolling to get your elbows in on centreline to control the head, while your opponent does the same. If you ever did high school wrestling you should remember the swimming exercise which looks similar, except you're not turning your body so much, so you don't have the chest contact (though I don't see any reason why you can't work that exercise in there too! :D ), and of course you're on one leg most of the time.

There is also lat sao crossed hand range, which requires greater stability on your part, but there is less interference from your partner's structure.

As you progress you should be working to let your legs find the path of least resistance, and working up and down through the ranges from clinch to disengagement. Of course, that is where your footwork comes in. As a beginner to build balance, leg strength and the basic positions you should be lookign at working on one side and keeping your leg up, which doesn't require any active footwork. As you progress you should be working the positional advantages and sticking (which should be exploit the natural gaps in your partner's structure and balance), as you put one foot down, raise the other, work your steps and half steps and move in and out. Of course, naturally and automatically finding the gaps should give you a range of kicks, knees, stamps and sweeps.

Can't say I'm there yet, but good chi gerk should look pretty much like good chi sao. In advanced chi sao you will be using your legs too, just as in good chi gerk you use your hands. At close range, this will provide low and high attacks often simultaneously, and so should open up a range of throws and takedowns to naturally fit with the rest of your arsenal.

[Airdrawndagger]

Are you from the moy yat linage?

Yes. And you?

[kung fu fighter]

Yes, my sifu is Sunny Tang one of Moy Yat's early Hong Kong student.

[Airdrawndagger]

Cool, Ive heard of Sifu Tang.
My sifu is Jacky Tsang of Moy Yat-GM Yip Man lineage. We are a young class, but we train well and are growing very well.
Chi-Jerk is fun for me, it is such a different way to train. Your balance, coordination of the legs and oneness(for lack of a better term...) all have to flow like a river. I am not an expert(NOT), but the more i train the better I get at it. I like to train one-leg sparring because it is such a great drill for balance.